Reviewed by USGSTurkey43y ago
M4.8 earthquake 18 km ESE of Narman, Turkey
Wednesday, November 2, 1983, 00:24:20 UTC · 40.271°N, 42.050°E
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 18 km ESE of Narman, Turkey on Wednesday, November 2, 1983, 00:24:20 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.3 on October 30, 1983.
- Magnitude
- 4.8
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 10 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
239 tons of TNT
That is about 1/63 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 2 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
159 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Anatolian and Eurasian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
10 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 50 km
USGS lists 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.5 on November 2, 1983. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 127 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.820 km NNE of Erzincan, TurkeyDecember 26, 1939 · 213 km W of this epicenter
- 7.347 km S of Doğubayazıt, TurkeyNovember 24, 1976 · 212 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.918 km ESE of Pasinler, TurkeySeptember 13, 1924 · 40 km S of this epicenter
- 6.814 km NE of Varto, TurkeyAugust 19, 1966 · 119 km S of this epicenter
- 6.827 km E of Narman, TurkeyOctober 30, 1983 · 13 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.814 km ENE of Yedisu, TurkeyAugust 17, 1949 · 145 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.77 km ENE of Lice, TurkeySeptember 6, 1975 · 230 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.6TurkeyMay 22, 1971 · 195 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 61 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 75,044 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1939M7.8
Erzincan
26 Dec 1939 · 213 km away · intensity XII
32,700 deaths$20 million damagetsunami
- 1859M6.1
Erzurum
2 Jun 1859 · 76 km away
15,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1976M7.0
Muradiye
24 Nov 1976 · 217 km away · intensity X
5,000 deaths$60 million damage
- 1784
Erzurum,Erzincan
23 Jul 1784 · 226 km away
5,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1903M6.3
Malazgirt
28 Apr 1903 · 136 km away · intensity X
3,560 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1966M6.8
Varto
19 Aug 1966 · 122 km away · intensity IX
2,394 deaths$20 million damage
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.